Union Theatre – until 23 November 2019
Reviewed by Alexandra Sykes
4****
Set in the fictional Green Fairy pub, The Green Fairy tells the story of Jo, and how she slowly became an alcoholic.
The story starts with Wendy performing in the pub singing a song about her daily experiences living in London and getting to and from central London. Pub owner Toby is proud of her and announced that her mum, Jo, is in the audience. After a brief conversation Wendy leaves and Toby allows Jo to sleep on the sofa of the pub, something she does frequently as she states the sofa hasn’t changed in 20 years. Whilst in the bar after closing Jo comes across a bottle of Absinthe and opens it, causing the green fairy to appear. The fairy takes Jo on a trip to her past to work out where her problems started, from her first meeting with Daniel and Eliza, to her marriage to Daniel, birth of Wendy, affair with Eliza and Daniels death which leads to Wendy being raised by Toby whilst living above the pub. Jo realises she has a problem with the drinking and promises the fairy she will give up now she knows the grown up Wendy is pregnant.
With a small cast of only 6, the musical works well. Julie Atherton as Jo and Emma Whittaker as the younger Jo works well as they can copy the others mannerisms and both play the part of an in denial alcoholic well. David Perkins and Harry F. Brown play Daniel and Toby respectively and both play their parts, and guitars well. Georgina Hellier is fabulous as both the green fairy and Eliza, hiding her fairy head piece under a hat when she is Eliza.
The set works well as it is made to look like the inside of a pub, complete with staircase heading up to the living quaters. The costumes are basic but work, with the green fairy outfit consisting of a ripped t-shirt and a green tutu.
All in all the play is good as the intimacy of the theatre helps to set the atmosphere but the lack of microphones means some parts are hard to hear and in some songs the music is louder than the singing which means song lyrics are lost but all in all a good night out.